Teach in Taiwan with HESS Education

I have lived in Asia for the past 6 years, and I'm no stranger to culture shock. Every country is different. That being said- what are your goals, and why you are wanting to work abroad. As most people understand any job has its pros and cons. Now add cultural differences to the mix. I would consider myself to be level-headed and realistic. I have enjoyed my time with HESS and have gained a lot of experience as a teacher. Overall, I don't have any complaints about HESS. By biggest advice for people is to BE FLEXIBLE. If you find this to be difficult then you will have difficulty. I think it is important for you to know that you will not know your teaching location until the end of training- this was the most difficult thing for many of my co-trainees to get used to. Just remember, have faith in the system. The staff is actually looking out for your best interest. They will try their best to place you where you will succeed.
There was a big adjustment going from Taipei training conditions to my rural area, DaJia Taichung, but after a few weeks I seemed to adjust fine.
HESS tries their best to prepare you financially. Take their advice seriously. I brought with me 1000 USD and I took out the interest free of NT30000. I managed to survive alright by the time I received my first paycheck. REMEMBER to save while you are in Taipei. Don't spend all your money!
I advise you to read the other reviews and think about this decision seriously. Is HESS for everyone? No, it isn't, BUT I have thoroughly enjoyed my time, and will be renewing my contract.
STAY FLEXIBLE and PATIENT. Taiwan is a great, safe place!

My girlfriend and I decided to work for Hess as it seemed like a safe option and they seemed very reasonable after our initial experience with the HR process. Sadly, we found that the positive experiences with them do not extend much further than this.

The HR team are mostly great and the training is really thorough (if not a bit intense). This experience sets a really professional tone to the company which actually stretches no further than this for a number of key reasons.

Firstly, Hess will make you do a lot of unpaid work. This can amount to almost as much work as you get paid for. There are a vast array of employers in Taiwan which will not make teachers do unpaid work and the amount of marking and admin can be mind-bending and soul-destroying at times. Particularly if you have large, upper-level classes. Hess offer bonuses for retaining these large classes as an incentive for this work but in comparison to the amount of extra work this involves over a year, the bonuses are frankly miserable!

Also, Hess will charge you a fee if you break your one-year contract. If you choose to fight this, it will prove an ugly and unpleasant process for those who stand their ground. This is something that very few employers in Taiwan do. Many language schools will not even bind teachers to a contract.

I simply had a terrible time at the branch I was placed in. I worked twice as many Saturday hours as any other NST (native speaking teacher) - working all day, while others had Saturday free. I was also the only NST who worked late each day from Monday to Friday. This did not give me much free time, was not similar to my girlfriend's schedule and made me very unhappy. I endured this for nearly ten months of a year-long contract before some small changes were made to my schedule for my final two months of employment.

I also found that I had little or no support during my struggle, as there was no head NST at our branch. In addition, I found the response of upper level staff to be quite dismissive of my concerns by simply stating 'you signed the contract'. This is a mealy-mouthed and jobs worthy response to an employee's occupational health concerns. I was also lied to by a senior manager during discussion of my aggrevance in order to strengthen her position on the matter! My advice would be not to consider one of their contracts considering the potential outcome and the lack of compassion and decency extended.

To give you further context on this issue I should inform you that I am a man in my thirties who has worked full-time for well over a decade in a number of roles for various companies. I have not taken a single day of sickness absence in over a decade -despite a number of broken bones - and have never been informed of any issues with my working attitude. Quite the opposite in fact, I have received awards and commendations from most companies I have worked with. When I worked with Hess, I was informed that the issues I experienced were simply due to culture shock and differences in working environments and that all of my issues resulted from a poor attitude. In this case, I am pretty confident that my working record speaks for itself and that the problem lies elsewhere!

It's easy to lack confidence when making such a large move across the world to live and work in a foreign country. It is very daunting and the secured prospect of working for a giant company like Hess can be comforting. However, I can simply inform you that the language teaching market in Taiwan is ripe for the picking and if you just have faith in yourself to find a job out there you'll find a role with better pay and conditions with significantly less unpaid work. I know a number of people who enjoyed their first year with Hess, and a couple which stayed for a second year. However, with such a variation in experiences and the risk of suffering from a company's unfair practices, I would simply advise that you seek employment elsewhere on arrival.

Believe in yourself and you can find something far superior in an incredible country, even with no prior experience. I wish you the best of luck with this and hope my opinion has been of assistance to you!

I worked for Hess in Hsinchu from June 2015 to February 2016. Hess is a big chain, they help you come overseas and get acquainted with Taiwan before you start teaching. They'll help you find a place to live and get you working permits. That's the good part. They don't really tell you how much you really need to get started. It's a lot and don't expect a paycheck until 2 months after you get here. The 183 days 18% tax and 182 days 5% tax was not accurate at my school. I was always getting hit with 18% tax. Other schools don't pull this on unknowing foreign teachers. Other schools will also pay you more and let you teach or substitute at other schools. Though many want you to have some sort of certificate showing you know what you're doing. I don't really recommend Hess to anyone that wants to teach seriously in Taiwan. There are much better schools available. Hess is just a giant corporation with very high turnover, even with the hefty contract termination fee. It's not for everyone, but it is at least a way to get started here in Taiwan if you're willing to wait a year to find a serious teaching position.

HESS provides you with a lot of support in and outside the classroom. This makes it easy to adapt to living in a foreign country and learn more about teaching.

Lesson plans are provided making your introduction into teaching easier. You will be well supported by head teachers, area managers and the main office.

There are many social events and events organised by the organisation to help you network with other teachers.

If you are willing to work hard, you are able to make a very good wage and live well in Taiwan.

I worked for Hess and without doubt they are ten times worse in my opinion it is alleged than any other company I have worked in in any other country. I would never recommend anyone work for them ever!! Even my worst enemy.

Are you a reasonably clean cut, complacent, semi-decent looking Caucasian male in your late 20s to early 30s? Congratulations, you are Hess material. You will likely encounter few problems while working with the Taiwanese staff at your buxiban. I would recommend this company to you solely on the basis of lack of teaching experience and few contacts in Taiwan. Keep in mind the possibility of 6 day work weeks, and being your branches go-to man for underpaid extracurricular work.

Now, if you don't belong to this minority, you may run into some issues. If the staff at your buxiban decide for some reason that they don't like who you are on the basis of your appearance, your personality, your ethnicity, your teaching style, etc, then you may have a difficult time. Poor relationships with the staff can be extremely stressful and make working with Hess a nightmare. This is of course subjective, and each branch is different, but micromanagement and internal hostility seem to be a recurring theme in many Hess buxibans.
Head office is aware of these issues, but unfortunately can do very little to change things.

If you are lucky enough to have a good experience with Hess, then you are of the minority. Life in Taiwan is of course what you make of it, but having an enjoyable job will make all the difference.
There are other cram schools which pay a higher starting wage, and give less extra admin work. Don't settle for Hess.

Where to begin?

Well, first of all, my branch is pretty decent. The managers were helpful, and the staff was something that I could work with. Also, the kids were great. The issue I had was the HESS structure itself. They work you into the ground, especially if you teach kindy with a mix of treehouse classes. You're only paid for your time in class, but your time grading and doing administrative work is way more. According to the Labor Standard Act in Taiwan (read it before you sign any contract), andy buxibon company is only allowed to work you a certain number of hours a day, and the days you are clocked in are the days that you are legally allowed to be compensated for. Out of a whopping 10 hour work day (including grading, lesson prep, etc) you are only paid for 4 or 6 of those hours (depending on how many classes you actually teach). You even have to put on extra Kindy performance shows, which the rediculous amount of prep time for the show isn't compensated for at all. Also, it is the law to have employees paid for national Taiwanese Holidays, according to Article 39. Guess what? HESS doesn't pay you for any international holiday. I'm actually planning to go to the labor board about this. HESS has gotten away with so many illegal practices, I feel partly to blame because I didn't research what my rights were.

I terminated my contract early due to a family emergency, and in the contract you agreed to a 20,000 termination fee. First of all, it is ILLEGAL to work as a kindy teacher in Taiwan, and you figure this out AFTER you sign the contract. What bugs me even more is that HESS attempted to deduct my wages from my paycheck, which is black and white illegal, and can open them up to a civil suit and get them fined 90,000 NT. The reason they didn't is because I researched my rights as an employee. Needless to say, I didn't pay the fine even after much intimidation and coercieon by my HNST to make me sign another contract promising I'll pay some other amount of NT.

HESS has a reputation of overworking and underpaying its employees, and if you're not careful, they will nickel and dime you. They have left a really bad taste in my mouth after all of this. I'm glad to be done with them. It's no coincidence that they have such a high turnover rate and they have issues retaining empoloyees.

Your first experience with Hess is the training which is everyday for one week and change. It is generally not that helpful because it is not specific to the place you will be teaching at which run however the manager feels it should. The degree to which the contract you sign and the policies outlined at the main office are followed varies a lot from branch to branch. In my experience many branches underpay for events. Also I have had a few "accounting errors" which surprisingly have never been in my favor.

Hess generally pays less than the going rate for teachers. They also expect you to do a lot more work outside of class than other jobs in Taiwan. You may have a little leverage if you complain depending on how many teachers have quit recently, but usually managers are willing to fight for pennies from you no matter the long term costs.

They have a main office staff of foreigners but they don't have the power to really help you. They seem well meaning enough though, and they will at least listen and then tell you to talk to someone else.